Ophthonix Returns Frames to Customers After Ceasing Operations

By StaffFriday, October 19, 2012 12:24 AM
VISTA, Calif.—Although
Ophthonix ceased operations on Oct. 16, the Vista-based ophthalmic technology and lens company is “not in a bankruptcy state,” according to CEO Stephen J. Osbaldeston.

Osbaldeston, a former CIBA Vision and Bausch + Lomb executive who has headed the company since 2007, told VMail that Ophthonix is returning eyeglass frames at no charge to customers who had sent them to the Ophthonix prescription lab in Vista, where they were to have been fitted with the company’s proprietary iZon lenses. He added, “We’re working our dialogue through with all players in the normal course of winding up the business.”

A message posted on the Ophthonix website advised accounts that they will need to “restart” these jobs “with another lab of their choice.” Asked what will happen with the special “Z-View” wavefront aberrometers the company has sold to many eyecare professionals, Osbaldeston declined to offer specifics. “All that will have to be worked through,” he said.

VMail
reported that Ophthonix had notified customers on Oct. 16 that “the economic situation has put the company in the position of not being able to find the capital needed to continue operations.”